Faster chemical mapping assisted by computer vision: insights from glass and ice core samples

Recent advances in high-repetition-rate lasers and fast aerosol transfer facilitate laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) mapping rates of up to megapixels per hour, however, practical limits in time and resources still hamper mapping the chemistry of square centimetre or larger areas of target samples at high resolutions. This is especially relevant for the analysis of deep sections of polar ice cores, motivating exploration of approaches to improve the efficiency of LA-ICP-MS data collection for large-area mapping. Assisted by computer vision, and demonstrated on glass and ice samples, we show how an informed experimental design coupled with computational post processing can contribute to large reductions in measurement times and lead to associated increases in measurement areas. Using various inpainting techniques, we demonstrate how the collection of data can be reduced by up to two thirds while still capturing spatial variability. Although motivated by ice core analysis, these approaches are generalisable to other target matrices and represent a new approach to large-area LA-ICP-MS mapping.